From one photography collector to another: a venue for thoughtful discussion of vintage and contemporary photography via reviews of recent museum exhibitions, gallery shows, photography auctions, photo books, art fairs and other items of interest to photography collectors large and small.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Auctions: Contemporary Art Evening and Day Sales, November 11 and 12, 2009 @Sotheby's

Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening and Day sales follow directly on the heels of those at Christie's this season. There is only one photographic lot in the Evening sale (a Baldessari); the rest of the contemporary photographs can be found in the Day sale. Quite a few of the images up for sale come from the collection of Martin Margulies (here). There are a total of 55 photography lots on offer across the two sales, with a Total High Estimate of $4139000. (Catalog covers at right, via Sotheby's.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 0

Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): NA

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 32

Total Mid Estimate: $859000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 23

Total High Estimate: $3280000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 40, John Baldessari, Life's Balance, 1986, at $300000-400000..

Here is a short list of the photographers who are represented by more than one photo lot in the two sales (with the number of lots in parentheses):